Every! – without reasoning and exceptions! Only then will the commandment be fulfilled.

Fr. John left the house every day only with a decent bag of small coins, which he specially exchanged for his beggars. On this occasion, a very interesting incident from the life of Fr. John was broadcast in Kronstadt. This was at a time when his fame had already reached its full bloom.

Not far from the house where Fr. John lived, there was a petty trade of a certain Petrov. The priest came to this Petrov's shop every day and asked him to change the money for change, which he then collected in a linen bag and went to distribute to the poor. This went on for a long time, for several years in a row.

Shopkeeper Petrov was sometimes burdened by the daily exchange of money and was dissatisfied with the fact that whole crowds of beggars gathered near his shop, waiting for the "father" to come out. Beggars are not buyers and only interfered with real buyers. Petrov's trade, despite this, was very brisk; he attributed this to the proximity of hospices.

Once, as usual, Fr. John entered Petrov's shop in the morning and asked to change 20 rubles for change. There were many customers in the shop at that time. The shopkeeper needed the change for himself, he was indignant at Fr. John in his heart for forcing him to count nickels and pennies for half an hour, and thought: "You should go somewhere else with your change!"

The priest, as if guessing the shopkeeper's thoughts, looked at him reproachfully, but did not say a word.

The next day he did not come to Petrov for change, and the following days he did not come in either. So a month passed. And so, the shopkeeper notices that his trade has begun to decline. Every day it got worse and worse, and at last it came to the point that at least you could close the shop.

Petrov grew heavier, he could not understand the reasons for the failure and complained bitterly to one of his friends. He also could not explain where the trouble came from, and suddenly asked:

"Does Fr. John still come to you for change?"

"No, he stopped walking, I haven't seen him for a long time.

The friend thought about it.

"Have you offended the priest in any way?" Why did he stop coming to you?

Then the shopkeeper remembered Fr. John's last visit, his annoyance with him, how he had cursed the poor in his mind, and a thought struck him like lightning. Without delay, on the same day he went to Fr. John, threw himself at his feet and exclaimed with tears: